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IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF AIR TRANSPORT

IL MIGIORAMENTO DELLA SICUREZZA NEL TRASPORTO AEREO

In spite of the great technological advances in aircraft and air traffic control, any aircraft accident revives fears regarding the safety of air travel. This article reviews some accident statistics from the International Organization for Civil Aviation which show a record value of 0.08 passengers killed per 100 million passengers/km in 1975, compared to just over 1.2 in 1951. These figures for regular airlines (and excluding USSR and China) indicate that to reach the average probability of incurring an accident at the 1975 value, a passenger must travel more than 1 billion air km per year, compared to the recognised analogous figure of 500000 km for rail travel. The author indicates human engineering, airport rescue and fire services, as sectors in the industry which require improvement.